One Act of Bravery
by Spleenlord
Summary: Things in the Naruto universe are changed more than anyone could imagine, all because of one shy girl's act of bravery.
1. Chapter 1

I don't really like to put things before chapters, but I want to be very upfront with what this chapter is. I'm really writing this story as an exercise in improving my writing skill, it was never meant to be published on any website. I'm throwing this first (and possibly second) chapter out to get feedback on what I can do better, while I do plan to finish writing this story, the rest will not be uploaded until I'm done or mostly done with the whole thing. I don't want to be one of those authors who starts a project but never finishes it. If you like this story, then don't hold your breath for the next chapter as it might never come. If you REALLY like the idea, then you can pick up your own version of this story and write it yourself.

Now, don't get me wrong. If I finish this story I WILL upload the whole thing (probably a chapter a week or something) but it will be a long time before that happens.

Please, leave comments of what you like and don't in the reviews. I just urge that those comments be focused more on what I did right (or wrong) in terms of grammar, sentence structure, and general flowiness of the story. Telling me you like the direction the story is going is all fine, but I don't learn anything about what I can do better from it. If you don't like the direction the story is going, or if you find something unrealistic or stupid, PLEASE do not flame it. I do not care that you don't like the idea, nor will your opinions be taken into account as I continue writing. Save both of our time and just don't do it. (of course, if you present a logical argument of why something doesn't make sense or why you don't like something in the plot, I welcome your criticism)

Here's chapter one-

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><p>Anyone who ever stayed up late in Konoha would tell you that it's no strange sight to see the lights on in the Hokage's mansion. It was often that way ever since the village was founded, over one hundred years ago by the Shodaime Hokage. Everyone knew that it took an incredible amount of work and thought to run a place like Konoha, so to the citizens of Konoha it was just another normal night. The Sandaime Hokage knew better.<p>

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a strong old man; definitely not one to be easily defeated by the inevitabilities of life. He was known as one of the most powerful men in the world, as much due to his prowess in battle as his political standing. In his long life, he'd seen wars fought and won. He led the largest hidden village in the world for more than a few decades, making him one of the oldest of any know kage. Despite all that, his old bones felt weighted down with the magnitude of the events just a few hours prior. He could scarcely remember the last time he felt this drained, but also knew it was foolish to believe that this day would never come. Konoha had many enemies, and it was only a matter of time before someone threatened the peace.

With that in mind, he'd prepared for any sort of attack many years ago. He liked to think he was _always_ prepared if anyone threatened the village. The entire Anbu force could be ready at a moment's notice, on top of every genin, chunin, and jonin in the village trained to protect their beloved home. He trusted every shinobi in the village with his life.

Which was precisely why he was unprepared for an attack from within. He didn't want to believe that any Konoha shinobi was willing to betray the village. Did they not realize how good they had it? Had he neglected his duties to allow such a defector to fester and infect the minds of children?

Sarutobi released an involuntary sigh and stared once again into the crystal ball that sat atop his heavy oak desk, hoping to see something new within its glass surface. With the correct application of his chakra and a couple of simple hand seals, the perfectly round orb began to shimmer; as it had many times that night. It remained that way for almost thirty seconds, causing him to wonder if he'd used it too much. It was a very finicky device in that regard.

Those fears were dispelled when the shimmering gave way to complete blackness. Slowly he was able to see a few features form through the shadows; reminding him of how one's eyes would adjust in a dark room. In another couple of moments the ball fully focused to reveal a dark room, cluttered with empty ramen cups and randomly tossed articles of orange clothing. There was a simple bed in the middle of the room; just as mistreated as the rest of the place, with a single hunched over figure sitting at its foot.

He couldn't see Uzumaki Naruto's face; as his head was bowed in a position the old man had seen only too many times. The floor below his face was spattered with dark splotches, making apparent that the boy had been crying. It shouldn't have surprised him, he had seen the boy cry at least a few times before, but the scene just seemed… wrong.

Sarutobi remained like that for a while, simply watching the boy sit and rub his eyes free of new tears. Occasionally he heard - through the crystal ball - a quiet muttering. What was said, he couldn't tell, but he could probably take a good guess. As he continued his watching, the large double door at the front of the room creaked open and he heard the footsteps as a single person enter the room. The old man didn't bother to look up from the crystal ball; he already knew who it was.

"Hokage-sama," the man said respectfully before pausing for a moment, unsure of what he should do. When nothing seemed to come to mind, he simply walked to the older man's side and stared at the crystal ball as well. The Hokage allowed himself a brief reprise from his scrying to glance over at the other. Umino Iruka was his name, a chunin that taught at the academy and one of the only other shinobi present at the scene of that night's crime. He wore a simple black outfit, no doubt just some things he'd been given at the hospital while he was being treated. It was likely his usual uniform had been rendered unusable after the battle. His eyes betrayed a deep sorrow, something the old man hadn't quite expected. His hitai-ite was missing, but the Hokage knew it wasn't lost.

"I didn't know he was taking it so hard," began Iruka with a frown, his eyes reflecting the image within the ball. "Learning about the demon, it must have been more crushing than he let on earlier."

"No," replied the older man with a slow shake of his head. "I don't think the Kyuubi is the source of his grief." With a wave of his hand the image on the crystal ball shifted, for a moment remaining dark, but quickly reforming into yet another room. This one was brightly lit, with gleaming hardwood floors and pure white walls. It was larger than the other room as well, at least twice as big, with very few pieces of furniture, giving it a somewhat empty feel.

Almost immediately after the image formed, Iruka heard sobbing emanating from the ball, but couldn't see where the noise came from. It took him a few moments, but he eventually noticed the tiny form curled in the upper right corner of the room. Realization dawned upon the chunin as the little girl's sobs sometimes gave way to wails of distress. He searched the face of the Hokage for any type of emotion, but the old man's expression remained the same as it had been.

"Naruto isn't weak," The Sandaime said after an uncomfortably long pause. "Learning the truth about the Kyuubi might have shaken him, but I think he's more distressed about what happened to her." With another wave of his hand, the image within the crystal ball vanished and the sounds of crying stopped.

Iruka nodded in agreement, crossing his arms as he did so. It was part of being a shinobi to see your comrades in danger, but not at such a young age. Naruto wasn't anywhere near ready to witness something like that, not that anyone really was ready to see someone held hostage. While he sympathized with Naruto, he couldn't even imagine what it must have felt like for Hinata.

"Hiashi was furious," Sarutobi sighed, interrupting the chunin from his thoughts. "He would have left to track down Mizuki himself if I hadn't personally ordered him to stand down. I fear that he might take his anger out on Naruto, though I hope he is not so foolish."

"Is it that bad?" Iruka asked incredulously. Sarutobi simply snorted in disgust.

"His eldest daughter was held hostage at knifepoint," he growled. "Since he can't go after the one who did it, his only outlet is Naruto. He never held any kindness for the boy, and no doubt thinks that he forced his daughter to put herself in danger."

"Why not let him go, then?" asked Iruka. "Surely the Byakugan would have been helpful in the search, and it would get him out of the village for a long enough time."

"Because the search party had already left, and he was in no fit condition to operate within a team," the Hokage stated sternly, almost as if he was trying to convince himself as well. "You remember the incident with Kumo. He knew what killing that man would do, but his temper got the best of him; we can't afford something like that to happen again. While his judgment is clouded with rage it's best that he remain in the village. At least this way he must fear punishment for his actions, if he were out on the mission he could torture civilians with impunity if he felt it would help with the search." Iruka didn't look particularly convinced by his reasoning, but he didn't press on the subject any further.

The room remained mostly silent from that point on. Iruka's thoughts were heavy; mostly centering on how he could make the situation better for his students, but also wondering if they'd ever recover from the trauma. Minutes seemed to pass by incredibly slowly as he mulled over those thoughts.

"Have you decided what team he'll be on?" Iruka asked after a while. The change of subject seemed to lighten the Hokage's mood somewhat, as a small grin tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Yes, but there are a few issues we must address," he replied quickly. "Those we will get to later tonight, you needn't worry yourself with them now. As for Naruto's assignment, I have decided to place him on Hatake Kakashi's team along with Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka frowned in thought, not entirely sure if that was such a wonderful idea.

"That would put him with Haruno Sakura as well, correct?" Iruka seemed to remember the kunoichi being placed on Sasuke's team. He was sure Naruto would be thrilled at that prospect at least.

"Perhaps," Sarutobi muttered thoughtfully. "I've been thinking on that matter, we'll sort it out tonight; when the jonin get here."

"The jonin?" asked Iruka.

"I sent my Anbu out to gather a few jonin," the old man replied. "They should be here soon."

"What about Hinata?" the chunin asked.

"She has experienced something that would drive even experienced chunin into emotional turmoil," he replied evenly. "From what I've gathered, she believes that she failed to the highest degree. The Hyuuga push perfection onto all of their offspring, as such, being unable to capture Mizuki would be viewed as a significant failure on her part. Since she was held hostage, it will likely be much worse than that. In the eyes of the Hyuuga she has shown the ultimate weakness in the main branch, and it has made her doubt herself more than ever." The detail in which the older man understood the girl's suffering surprised Iruka, he was relatively sure he couldn't gather all of that information by only one night of watching her. Then again, the man had at least fifty years of being Hokage to understand these things. Perhaps that was just one of the gifts that made him fit to lead?

"So, she'll be taken off duty?" It was the only course of action that made sense to Iruka, even if he regretted seeing the shy girl denied the position she had just earned. To his surprise, the Hokage didn't reply right away.

"Possibly," he said after a long period of thought. "But I think it would be counterproductive to do so. She already thinks that she failed her family and herself; if we take her off duty she will only see it as failing her village as well."

"So what _should_ we do?" Iruka asked.

"I've been thinking about an adjustment to the teams that could make this easier for her," Sarutobi replied in a distant tone, as if contemplating a great mystery. Another awkward silence followed and Iruka sensed that this wasn't the time to ask any more questions, even though thousands of them burned at the back of his mind. He figured that they would be answered after the jonin arrived, but until then he would suffer.

He didn't have to wait very long at all, much to his relief. It had only been a few minutes when the large window at the other end of the room suddenly opened, allowing a gust of wind to shoot through the room and causing a few papers to free themselves from the desk. They must have not been important, because the Hokage didn't deem it necessary to retrieve them. Through the now opened window entered the first of the jonin.

Iruka recognized the man from last year's graduation, not that he could ever forget the green spandex clad shinobi, nor his thick black eyebrows; which were probably wider than both of his thumbs combined. His hair was in a very neat black bowl cut that seemed to reflect an impossible amount of light in the dim room. If memory served him correctly, his name was Maito Gai.

"Punctual as always, Gai-san," the Hokage commented, without turning his head to look at the jonin.

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama!" replied the man, his voice booming loudly. "I would have been here earlier, but I was finishing my two thousand and ninth lap of the village when your summon reached me. My youth demanded that I finish my two thousand and twentieth lap before coming here!" Iruka wasn't sure he believed this incredibly loud man was a jonin.

"There's no need to apologize," the old man assured him. "You're still the first jonin to arrive. You may take a seat and wait for the others if you wish." Gai shook his head and flashed the Hokage an impossibly bright grin.

"And waste my youth by sitting around doing nothing? I think not!" the strange man boomed, by this time Iruka was positive every person in the vicinity had been woken from their sleep. Gai didn't seem to share his concern as he walked over to the largest patch of empty floor he could find and started doing a blindingly fast flurry of one handed pushups.

"If I cannot do at least five hundred pushups before the next person arrives, then I will do five thousand pull ups with boulders tied to my feet!" The man's claim was ludicrous, but he didn't seem to share Iruka's thoughts. He continued to pump out pushups like a mad man.

Shaking his head, the chunin turned his gaze back towards the Hokage, who watched the sight as if it were a normal occurrence.

Throughout the course of the next several minutes, two more jonin arrived. The first was a black haired woman with a strange white dress that appeared to be made of a single long strip of cloth wrapped in an incredibly complex fashion, while the second Iruka recognized as the Hokage's son, Sarutobi Asuma. Upon entrance, each jonin nodded respectfully to the Hokage before taking their seats, ignoring the sight of Maito Gai as he continued to belt out pushups like a machine.

_'Am I the only one who thinks he's strange?' _Iruka wondered, unable to take his eyes off of the man no matter how hard he tried. He wasn't sure how many pushups the green clad shinobi had done, but since he appeared uninterested in stopping he must not have reached his quota yet.

"Sixhundred!" Gai shouted at last, though Iruka knew there was no way that was possible; it had barely been five minutes since he started. "My youth burns brightly tonight if I can surpass my goals! Tomorrow I shall double up on every single one of my exercises in celebration!" Iruka put his palm to his forehead and shook his head in disbelief, still unable to grasp why none of the others even seemed to notice this behavior.

"Thank you all for coming at this late hour," the Hokage said in a powerful voice, snapping Iruka out of his thoughts. He knew the man well enough to know that he only spoke this way when talking about important business or missions. "I assume you were told why you've been summoned." The three jonin didn't speak up, which meant they had.

"That's good," nodded the old man, normally he wouldn't have to worry about the Anbu delivering his messages, but when Naruto was involved they sometimes allowed his orders to 'slip their mind.' Only Iruka looked confused, but he would catch on soon. "Then you are all aware that while Kakashi is out on his mission to retrieve the traitor Mizuki and the forbidden scroll, his team will require a temporary instructor." Sarutobi anticipated this to raise questions, so he paused to allow them to voice their concerns. Not surprisingly, it was the female jonin, Kurenai, who spoke up first.

"That's what I don't understand," she said with a hint of confusion in her voice. "I know the importance of a temporary sensei, but all of us already have teams of our own to deal with. How are we at all relevant in this discussion?" Sarutobi nodded, but waited to see if anyone else had a question. When none of them spoke up, he continued.

"Usually I would assign his team to a free jonin until Kakashi returned and that would be that," he said with a slight shrug. "But this situation is somewhat unique, in more than one way, and I needed to gather jonin I know I could trust with this task." The flattery seemed to affect Gai the most, as his eyes suddenly lit up with pride. Kurenai and Asuma remained mostly composed, even if the former seemed a little surprised.

"It's because of the Uzumaki kid, isn't it?" asked Asuma casually, while kicking his feet up and leaning back in his chair.

"Partially," Sarutobi admitted. "Even among the jonin, there are some who wouldn't want to train the boy. A few might even show outright hostility. I'm confident that won't be a problem with any of you."

"That doesn't change the fact that we all have teams of our own already," Kurenai reminded him with a raised eyebrow. "Nor does it explain why all three of us are here." Sarutobi smiled approvingly, he always loved when people couldn't figure out his plans. Definitely no small feat considering that these were some of the most talented jonin in Konoha.

"That is because I'm trying something… unique this time," he replied, keeping his voice just as professional as before. "Kakashi's Anbu team has informed me that they are in pursuit of Mizuki. The traitor is proving elusive, and there is evidence that he is with… troublesome company. As such, Kakashi has estimated that the mission will be completed in no fewer than two weeks, more than likely even longer than that. His genin team, in the meantime, will be rotated amongst all three of you until he returns." Looks of realization seemed to settle amongst the jonin, but for Iruka it only raised more questions.

"All three of them?" he asked incredulously. "I don't think that's a wise choice, without the stability of a single sensei, the three might be overwhelmed and confused by the constant shifting."

"As I stated before, this is a bit unique and something of an experiment. There is a good chance that this method of training might not be effective." Iruka was surprised to hear the Hokage admit this so easily, and was about to ask another question before the old man continued. "However, it is my opinion that this method will give them a stronger base in the shinobi arts. Having access to multiple instructors with a wide variety of specialties, I believe they will progress faster than teams with only one jonin instructor." This seemed to satisfy Iruka enough to keep his thoughts to himself, but he could tell that the chunin didn't think highly of the idea. Kurenai on the other hand, nodded with agreement.

"It's an interesting arrangement," she said while deep in thought. "Training them alongside our other genin will also allow us to work on teamwork, since we can place them against each other in activities. I haven't taken on a genin team before, but I've heard teamwork is one of the largest issues most Jonin have. My only question is the order in which they will switch, and if it will be on a daily bases or not."

"They would rotate each day," Sarutobi replied evenly. "That simply leaves the order up to decision."

"I volunteer to take my eternal rivals team first!" Gai bellowed as he entered his famous pose, giving both a thumb up and a blindingly reflective smile. "I will fan their flames of youth until they touch the sky! Kakashi shall see the true power of a genius of hard work!"

Iruka was beginning to wonder if the man had a volume switch on him somewhere, since the close proximity to the spandex clad man left his ears ringing. Once again, the others didn't seem to see this as anything out of the ordinary. How could anyone get used to that behavior?

"That will not be necessary, Gai-san," The Hokage said casually, causing the green shinobi to fall to his face. He muttered something about his flames being stamped out. "As it happens, I've already come up with an order which I believe is ideal. You may debate it if you wish, but I would have Kurenai take them the first day, followed by Gai and Asuma respectively." If Gai was displeased by the order of things, he didn't show it. Iruka wondered if he had simply resigned to his fate, or if he respected the Hokage's judgment enough to not second guess it.

"I think that's a good choice," Kurenai said, nodding in agreement. "It would be awkward for a brand new team to be picked up on their first day by an already established one. This way they will be more comfortable with their classmates, and will be started out all at the same level." Sarutobi acknowledged her reasoning with a quick nod; those were the exact same thoughts he had while constructing this plan.

"I don't mean any offense, but I don't think Gai-san is right for this task." Asuma said, surprising both the other jonin, who were used to him not speaking up at these types of meetings. Gai had a curious expression on his face, but he didn't seem offended, nor did he interrupt the other jonin. "We all know of his intense training methods; which could end up hurting Kakashi's team, plus the introduction of three new rookies could throw off the pace he's already set with his current team."

"Gai-san, do you share these concerns?" the Hokage asked, he hadn't overlooked that question himself, but was sure Gai would be capable of it. Nonetheless, he was curious to see how Gai would respond. He seemed to consider Asuma's words for a few moments and rubbed his chin in thought. In a much more professional tone than earlier, he answered.

"No, I don't think it will be too much of an issue. Neji and Tenten both do very minimal training with Lee and I, as is their choice. As such, the new genin will be with only Lee most of the time, so they will not throw off our own exercises too much. It is true that I will work them hard, but no harder than they are willing to work themselves." Gai allowed himself another few moments to think a little bit more, before continuing. "Plus, Kakashi's team seems mostly up to the challenge. Uchiha Sasuke is a genius not unlike Neji, and will likely require the challenge of a more advanced team for his flames of youth to reach their fullest. Uzumaki Naruto I know little about, but from what I've heard he seems like a hardworking young man, if not a little misguided. The only issues I see would be with their teammate, Haruno Sakura. She is bright and definitely has a good amount of potential in both ninjutsu and genjutsu, but her flames don't burn as brightly as her teammate's."

"Thank you for your honest assessment," the Hokage said in a thoughtful voice, wondering just how Gai managed to get ahold of the roster to know who was on Kakashi's team. Then again, where Kakashi was involved, Gai was usually an expert on the subject. "I have been considering replacing Haruno Sakura for a while, as her abilities might be better suited elsewhere. Team seven is intended to be a hard hitting combat team, but she really doesn't fit that role."

"Who would be replacing her, then?" asked Kurenai, she knew that last minute adjustments to the roster could force several teams to be changed, as a simple tradeoff between two teams rarely worked to balance them. She was concerned that a major switch would jeopardize her own team.

"I have someone in mind," the old man assured them. "But I will need a bit more time to think it over. In the meantime are there any more questions or suggestions?"

For the next half hour, Sarutobi heard the various concerns of each of the jonin present. Occasionally Iruka threw in a question or a couple of words to describe the personalities of the rookie genin, as he knew them better than the jonin present. All things considered, Sarutobi thought that the meeting went very well. He had expected at least one of them to object, and in all honesty didn't have a backup plan if that should happen. Fortunately, each of them appeared rather interested in how this exercise would turn out. All but Iruka seemed to think that it would benefit team seven, but the chunin he stood by his position that it would be too complicated for the genin to learn effectively. It would have made things easier if anything like this had been tried before, but as far as Sarutobi could tell this was the first time it had been attempted in any hidden village.

_'Perhaps if this goes well, we can implement a system for all future graduates to rotate instructors?' _The idea appealed to Sarutobi, but there would be many issues to sort out in order to launch a program on that scale. He hoped to be retired again before taking on anything on that scale.

Thoughts of the team arrangements aside, he couldn't seem to take his mind off both Naruto and Hinata. He was sure the former would come to terms with everything that happened; it was one of the baffling qualities that the boy harbored. Hinata, however, was far more fragile. That fragile nature was making things incredibly difficult for him, but as hard as it was, he knew getting Kurenai to agree with it would be even harder still. Of course he could always make it an order, but didn't want to force anyone to do anything.

A question from Gai about how a group of six would take on missions snapped the Hokage from his thoughts, and he was forced to come up with an answer.

"D rank missions shouldn't be a problem. On the days that you have team seven, you'll simply have a larger group to complete the missions with. Of course, the pay will be split up between all of you, but that shouldn't be a problem," the Hokage stopped to think about how higher rank missions would be handled; somewhat annoyed with himself for not considering this earlier. "I suppose you just won't be able to accept missions that require you leave the village for days at a time, at least not until Kakashi returns." Of course, Sarutobi knew it would be an issue if the worst were to happen and Kakashi didn't return from his mission. Those weren't thoughts for that moment though, and he quickly banished them from his mind.

The meeting went on for another couple of minutes, mostly on the topic of how the jonin would juggle their team and team seven's needs. It was a rather dull discussion that Sarutobi had very little part in, since it pertained to the teaching styles of the individual jonin more than anything. After that discussion Asuma decided it was time to leave, which seemed to remind the others how late it had become. Iruka left shortly after Asuma, followed by Gai. The latter claiming something about his flames requiring to be rekindled through a good night's rest. Soon only Kurenai was left.

"Thank you for staying, Kurenai," Sarutobi said, though he knew it wasn't of her own will.

"It is no problem, Hokage-sama," she replied respectfully. "But I'm curious as to why you requested me to stay longer than the rest."

"Hyuuga Hinata." His gaze was as serious as it had ever been that night, and it was all the old man had to do to make her frown with realization.

"I thought so…" she muttered. "Please, ask what you need to know, I can tell you about her mental state to the best of my ability."

"I'm fully aware of her mental state," he said, glancing down at the crystal ball that sat atop his desk. "This is about how we should go about making things right for her. You know as well as I that taking her off active duty will only make things worse." Kurenai's expression shifted to one of deep sorrow, but she managed to nod in agreement. "However, I can't just act as if nothing happened. The truth of the matter is that she's emotionally compromised. She probably was before this incident, but now it is far beyond what we can ignore."

"I know," replied Kurenai, shaking her head. "I will make sure that she is taken care of, I know her fairly well, so I might be able to help her through this."

"I have no doubt of that. If it were within my power I would have had her removed from the Hyuuga clan and placed under your care long ago." Kurenai's eyes widened and her expression was one of shock unlike the old man had ever seen on her before. "But even as good as you are to the girl, you cannot help her. Not this time."

"Why not?" Kurenai almost gasped. She seemed to catch herself and managed to regain her composure. Still, Sarutobi could tell that his words worried her. "I am as close to her as any person since she doesn't have any friends to confide in, and we both know her family won't help."

"Come here, I wish to show you something." Without waiting for her to move, Sarutobi made a few seals in order to activate his crystal ball. Unlike last time, however, it hardly took any time at all to come into focus. That was because the images forming were those of an event that had already happened, and required much less energy to create. "I warn you, this may be hard to watch."

Kurenai, with a solemn expression, peered into the ball.

_"Dispel the jutsu, Naruto!" Mizuki shouted with a crazy look in his eye. "Dispel it or I kill this girl!"_

_ "No! Don't!" Naruto shouted, extending an open hand as if to grab onto the unconscious girl and pull her to safety. His clones stood by, completely dumbfounded, as the exchange went on._

_ "I knew you wouldn't!" Mizuki screamed, completely insane. "A demon like you could NEVER feel anything for another human! I'll kill the girl and you won't even flinch!"_

_ "No!" shouted Naruto, and instantly the forest was rocketed by a blast of smoke as each of his clones vanished into nothingness. "I got rid of them, just let her go!"_

_ At that moment, the dark haired girl in Mizuki's arms began to stir. Her eyes flickered open, and at first she looked around without understanding what was going on._

_ "Look, she's awake," Mizuki said in a clear, far too cheerful voice. "How convenient. You'll get to feel it when you die."_

_ The girl looked down and felt cold metal against her neck, her eyes widened in shock and her irises narrowed into tiny circles and she screamed in terror._

The image in the ball warped and began to vanish as it started to form a new scene.

_Hinata sat curled up in the center of her room, unable to stop the tears that flowed from her eyes. Balled in her fist was a single piece of bright orange fabric stained along one edge with red, her tears fell onto it as she sobbed and held back the wails and moans that threatened to escape her every second, she failed more often than she succeeded._

"_N-Naruto…kun," she said in between hiccups. "I-I-I'm s-sorry."_

"Enough! Please!" Kurenai's voice cut through the image, just before it faded to blackness.

"I didn't show you everything," Sarutobi said, allowing for very little time to get ahold of herself. "I didn't want this to take too long, since the crystal ball is almost at its limit already. Naruto managed to get Hinata away from Mizuki when Iruka threw a few shuriken to distract him, though Naruto was stabbed in the arm during the attempt. Mizuki used the time that Naruto was busy making sure Hinata was alright to escape. Someone was waiting for him at the edge of the village and they used a reverse summoning to escape with the scroll."

"Why did you show me that?" she asked, forcing herself to remain calm despite the white hot rage that bubbled up within her gut.

"Because, it reveals something," the Hokage stated. "I've been watching both Naruto and Hinata ever since the accident. Through her crying she has only said one thing; Naruto's name." Kurenai closed her eyes as she realized what the Hokage suggested in that statement.

"You want her to replace Sakura?" It was more of a statement than a question, nevertheless, Sarutobi answered.

"Yes. She is devastated that she failed to protect Naruto, and that he was injured trying to rescue her. I think the only person that could help her now is him. Her admiration is as clear as day now, if we give her another chance to redeem herself with him she might be able to pull herself away from this."

"What if he doesn't acknowledge her?" Kurenai argued. "He could just as easily make this worse if he resents her for what happened, he might think it was her fault that Mizuki escaped."

"Naruto isn't like that," the Hokage assured her in a very powerful voice. "He grew up a lot like she did, being shunned by the entire village just as she has been shunned by her clan. Underneath his pranks and loud demeanor, he is just as insecure as she is. He hides it better, obviously, but I fear he is almost at the end of that rope. If anyone could understand her enough to help her through this, it is Naruto."

"A similar upbringing won't guarantee anything," Kurenai spat. She knew she was out of line, but didn't care. "There is a chance to save her from this; if we waste it on a gamble like this then we might lose her."

"Naruto will not blame her for this," Sarutobi responded as calmly as he could. "Throughout all the harsh treatment and hatred he has seen, Naruto has never shown an ounce of resentment to anyone who doesn't deserve it. The fact that Hinata tried to help him is the most acknowledgement he's ever gotten from one of his classmates. He won't even think to put the blame on Hinata, not when she helped when he needed it most. Regardless of the outcome."

"Can you guarantee that?" Kurenai asked, forcing herself to calm down. She was only partially successful.

"I wouldn't do this if I thought there were a better option, but I cannot guarantee anything," he replied. "You know I wouldn't take any risks here, not when it comes to _her_ daughter." Kurenai's anger suddenly vanished; she turned her eyes away from the Hokage and tried to fake being upset. She didn't succeed.

"Damn you old man," she said, but the fury had gone from her voice. "Damn you for bringing her into this. You know that I can't refuse now."

"I'm not trying to bribe you," Sarutobi said with more sorrow than he intended. "We both owe her our lives, I wouldn't use her to gain leverage over your decision."

"Is it possible to put Naruto on my team instead?" Kurenai asked, though she sounded like she already knew the answer."

"You know the reasons why it wouldn't work," Sarutobi told her. "Team eight is recon specialized and Naruto has absolutely no talent in that area, he would drag the team down with him. He's not stupid, either. He would know it was his fault if the team failed, and I can't put him into that situation." He could see the pained look in Kurenai's expression, but could think of no way to make this any easier for her.

"I could train Naruto to be effective at recon," she said. At this point, Sarutobi was sure she knew she was fighting a losing battle. Still, he answered.

"You could, of that I have no doubt," he admitted. "But he will never be as good as Shino or Kiba, not without many years of practice at least. However, just like Naruto would bring down team eight, Sakura would bring down team seven. She shows far more promise in recon than Naruto, perhaps even more promise than Sasuke. Switching her and Hinata is the only logical move we can make, since the Jyuuken will fit a heavy hitting team like team seven perfectly. The only downside is that team eight won't have the Byakugan, but it is hardly an essential piece while an Aburame and Inuzuka are on the same team." Try as she might, Kurenai could not flaw the Hokage's argument. She definitely tried though, barraging him with a hailstorm of "what ifs" and "How about." It took Sarutobi a good ten minutes to get through all of her objections, before she finally seemed convinced.

"I understand, Hokage-sama," she said, trying to force a professional expression, which she failed at rather miserably. Her voice wavered slightly, also betraying the emotion she felt. "Regardless of how I feel, this will be better for her… I won't be so selfish to deny her this opportunity simply because of my wants."

"That is very wise of you," Sarutobi said sympathetically, giving the jonin a faint smile. "You will have at least a few lessons with her, and no doubt will still see her even after Kakashi-san returns. Make the most out of that time, just because you won't be her full time sensei doesn't mean you can't be a role model."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," she said, somewhat more in control of herself this time. "I will do my best to help her through this."

"I know you will," he replied. "Now go get some rest. You'll certainly have to come up with a lesson plan."

* * *

><p>And that's the end of that. Tell me what you think, what I can do better, what I did well, and anything else of that nature. If you like the idea enough to take up your own story, please tell me in the reviews so I can read it. Hopefully I can finish this story up and publish the rest, but please don't PM me asking "When will the next chapter be out?" I don't know the answer.<p>

And if you really want to waste a portion of your life flaming this story, then expect me to ignore your very existence as an insignificant speck in my life. You will receive no attention, no reply, and no thought. I probably won't read your review past the point where I realize it's a flame. Seriously, you have better things to do than that.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here's chapter two. I'm actually not very happy with how it turned out, there were many other things I wanted to introduce into this chapter that I just couldn't practically fit in. As it stands, the reactions of the characters is underwhelming compared to the seriousness in the last chapter, but I guess I should see what all of you think.

Also, I'm beginning to revise my decision to only update a few chapters of this story. I'll begin updating this story any time I finish a chapter, though I must warn you that I have no betas, editors, or anything along those lines. The last person to do a read through of this was me, so I'm really relying on the readers to point out the mistakes so that I can fix/learn from them. I'm no major grammar freak and never have been, so there will probably be enough mistakes for you to point out.

Lastly, I'd like to thank all the helpful reviewers from chapter one. I tried to take all of your advice into consideration, to varying degrees of success.

(since I forgot in the last chapter) No, I don't own Naruto.

* * *

><p>Chapter two: No Such Thing as Hopelessness<p>

Naruto scowled to himself as his bedside alarm clock went off, marking it as eight o'clock in the morning. With a heavy smack he silenced the alarm, vaguely aware of the cracking noise the plastic device made when it couldn't take the force of the blow. That didn't matter to him as he stretched in place, cursing the world for his lack of sleep.

Everything else was going wrong, so he supposed it wasn't any big surprise that he didn't get a moment of rest that night. Hopefully he could stay awake for his picture; it would be the most infuriating thing ever if he lost his promotion to genin because he fell asleep. That thought alone shook him up enough to clear his mind a bit.

At least one good thing came out of the last twenty four hours, even if it did feel unearned, which left him somewhat bitter. It would have been different if they managed to stop Mizuki, at least then he would have earned Iruka's hitai-ite, but with that traitor still at large the promotion just seemed… wrong. He wasn't about to object though, not after failing that stupid test three times.

Irritated and sleepy, Naruto threw himself out of bed to begin his morning routines. His appointment was in an hour, so he'd have plenty of time.

The first order of business was a hot shower, which managed to soothe some of his aches and pains sustained during the previous night's struggle. It also managed to calm his sour mood somewhat, which was more than welcomed. Finished with his shower and garbed in only a towel, Naruto shuffled into the kitchen to start the water boiling for his ramen. He'd have time to get dressed while the water heated up.

His scowl returned with renewed force when he realized that the outfit he wore (and ruined) the previous night was the last of the newest batch he'd bought. With that outfit effectively trashed, all he had left were ones he'd outgrown a few months ago; which meant he would be paying a visit to that stupid shop clerk within the next few days to replenish his supply of clothing. He hated the short, fat man who ran the clothing store almost as much as he hated cold ramen.

The thought of cold ramen reminded Naruto of the water boiling in his kitchen, which banished all negative thoughts from his mind. Hastily he threw on the slightly too small outfit before bursting out to the kitchen. He made it on time, noticing that the electric water heater he used for his ramen had just reached a rolling boil. In a swift motion that could only be obtained through years of practice, he poured the steaming liquid evenly into four cups of instant ramen; the sound of water meeting noodles bringing out the closest thing to happiness that he'd felt in hours. The black haze of his earlier emotions still pushed strongly at the back of his mind, but he wouldn't allow them to interfere with his most cherished ritual of breakfast ramen.

While the noodles took some time to heat up, Naruto walked over to his fridge to grab a carton of milk. He hated the taste of the stuff, but Iruka had told him the importance of milk one day at the academy. If he had to suffer through the taste in order to keep his bones from snapping out from under him, then he would do so without hesitation. After all, how could he become Hokage if every bone in his body shattered easier than dry ramen noodles? Plus he was hoping it would bring on the growth spurt he'd been waiting for.

Satisfied he had the two major food groups covered, Naruto headed back to the table and began eating. His chopsticks moved slower than usual, but the ramen still vanished at an alarming rate to the eyes of any normal person. In all it took him a little over two minutes to drain each cup dry and when the noodles were gone he chugged the milk, grimacing as he did so.

A quick look at a wall clock told him that it was a little past eight thirty, giving him plenty of time to make it to his nine o'clock appointment. He probably could wait a few more minutes to leave, since it wouldn't take anywhere near thirty minutes to reach his destination. However, Naruto figured waiting at the Hokage's mansion would be just as boring as waiting around the apartment.

Before he could make his decision, the sound of someone knocking at his front door snapped at his attention. Cautious from many years of poor treatment, he gave the wooden door a curious glance; no one ever came to visit him so he couldn't imagine who it would be. Suspiciously he crept up to the door and stood on his tiptoes to look out the tiny peep hole, what he saw almost caused him to jump in surprise.

"Hey, Naruto?" called Iruka from the other side. "Are you awake yet?"

Naruto literally threw the door open, causing it to slam against the wall and make the entire hallway shake. Iruka, luckily standing out of the door's path, was startled by the sudden noise and instinctively took a step back. It took a second for him to register the grinning ball of orange and yellow that stood in the doorway.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto beamed, his smile so wide he had to keep his eyes shut. "Did you come to treat me to ramen? I don't think Ichiraku's is open yet!"

The scarred chunin couldn't seem to form any coherent thoughts; he came prepared to comfort a depressed student and even went so far to have an encouraging speech all worked out for the occasion. Seeing Naruto grinning brightly in front of him was the last thing he expected, and he had no idea how to react.

"I- uh… no, I'm not here to treat you to ramen," Iruka stated, causing Naruto to bow his head in disappointment. "I mean, I came here to check up on you. After last night I figured you might be..." His voice trailed off as Naruto looked up at him; he was grinning slightly less energetically, making it seem almost hollow.

"What about last night?" the boy asked, maintaining his charade as best he could. "I graduated, so it all worked out!" Iruka raised an eyebrow at his student's denial, for a moment wondering if he should call the boy's bluff. In the end he decided against it, since Naruto was probably just trying to get things to go back to normal. He'd have to face the truth eventually, but now might be too soon. Instead, he would have to nudge the boy in the right direction in other, indirect, ways.

"I suppose you're right," Iruka said, smiling at his student, a somewhat brilliant plan forming in his mind. "Few people your age would be able to go through what you did and still be able to see the good that came from it. It kind of reminds me of something the Yondaime used to say when I was your age." He spoke in an exaggerated tone, knowing exactly how the boy would react. Naruto seemed to perk up at the mention of the famous Hokage, his easy to read expression was curious, though Iruka swore he could see something else in his eyes.

"What did he used to say?" Naruto asked when Iruka left his statement hanging unfinished. The chunin chuckled to himself; sometimes it was good to be so predictable.

"He used to say that there is no such thing as hopelessness," Iruka said in his best lecture voice. "Do you know what that means?" Naruto furrowed his brow in thought, but didn't come to an answer.

"It means that no matter what happens, there is always some good in any situation," he said. "If you're willing to look for it, that is."

Naruto seemed to consider his words, placing his hands up to his chin in thought. Iruka allowed him a few moments to let those words sink in, he tended to need a few more moments to grasp these things completely.

"I guess I get it," he said to himself. "It's kind of like ramen with vegetables in it. As long as you pick around the vegetables, it's still just as good as normal ramen."

"Sort of," Iruka said through his teeth, rubbing the back of his head. "I just meant to say that it's a good thing you're keeping your mind on the good and not the bad. That's not easy, especially for someone your age."

"Ya, I am pretty great," Naruto bragged, flashing Iruka another large grin. It wasn't on par with what the boy was usually capable of, but he could tell that it was genuine. Iruka chuckled to himself a little, proud of how well his plan worked.

"Anyway, we've gotten a bit off track," he said, remembering the other reason he stopped by. "I came here to take you to your appointment with the photographer. If you're ready to go, we can leave now." Naruto's eyes lit up instantly.

"Iruka-sensei is gonna take me?" he asked excitedly. "We're wasting time here!" Before Iruka had a chance to say anything, Naruto shot out of his apartment and was already several feet away, impatiently gesturing him to follow. "You're too slow, Iruka-sensei!"

"Calm down, Naruto," he replied in a stern tone. "You didn't even remember your hitai-ite! We can't leave yet!"

Upon hearing this Naruto fell flat onto his face, all Iruka could do was sight and rub his temples.

At least he wasn't taking everything badly. Not outwardly, at least.

XxXxX

The photographer was a short, pudgy old man with a disapproving scowl. Iruka knew him from when he graduated the academy, since they'd used the same photographer for as long as he could remember. If he hadn't been the one to schedule the man every year since becoming a chunin, Iruka might not have recognized him. His hair; which used to stand about as tall as the man himself, was almost entirely gone. Only little tufts stuck out on the side of his head now and he seemed to have lost the cheery smile that Iruka remembered from when he became a genin. On anyone else he would have wondered if the scowl was directed _at _Naruto, but he knew that the old man was like that to all of the students nowadays.

"You sure you want it to look like this?" the old man grumbled. "That grin is pretty stupid."

"Shut up you old fart!" Naruto retaliated. "Just take the picture!"

"Whatever," the old man said, before disappearing behind his camera. "It's your picture, not mine." There was a click followed by a bright flash, which made Iruka blink away spots in his vision. When he regained his sight, the old man already had the picture pulled from the camera and was shaking it. Iruka didn't know much about cameras and always wondered why photographers shook the pictures after taking them. Naruto on the other hand, didn't seem to want to wait for the photographer to be done with it. He tried to snatch the picture away from the old man immediately, but was kept at a distance by the shorter man's outstretched hand.

"Be patient, brat," he said. "You want the picture to develop correctly, right?"

"It should be fine now!" Naruto protested, trying to grab the picture from the old man's hand, only to fall to the ground when he moved to the side.

"If you'd wait two more seconds, it will be," he grumbled before taking a look at the photo. "You're in luck; the picture's shown up already. You can have it now." The old man simply turned his back and tossed the paper over his shoulder like one would a piece of trash.

"Ah! What did you do that for?" Naruto shouted, scrambling to grab the paper before it hit the ground.

"Because I can," he replied sourly. "Now get out of here, I got at least thirteen students ahead of you!" Naruto's brow furrowed violently and he began stalking over to the old man.

"Come on, Naruto," Iruka said strictly. "We have other stuff to do as well. You need to take that picture to the Hokage now."

"But Iruka-sensei!" he whined, pointing at the old man accusingly.

"Naruto…" Iruka growled, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently. He only used this technique on troublemaking students, and Naruto had seen it enough to know not to argue.

"Yes Iruka-sensei," he sighed, before shuffling up to his side.

"That's better," Iruka said cheerfully. "Let's get going."

On the way to the stairs Naruto shot his tongue out at the photographer, which Iruka responded to with a raised eyebrow. The boy simply ignored him and continued silently at his side. He took on a look of deep thought and Iruka had a strange feeling that someone had just been targeted for the full Naruto prank experience.

The trip to the academy was short and uneventful, which worried Iruka immensely. He knew from years of working with him that Naruto very rarely remained silent for any length of time; even when he was in trouble. He shuddered to think of what kinds of things the boy was scheming. While he had never personally been on the receiving end of one of Naruto's major pranks, those who were often ended up so humiliated they would refuse to leave their houses. He'd have to talk to Naruto about this habit, or the academy might lose a photographer.

Once at the academy, it was a different story. While the boy remained mostly silent, Iruka noticed his attention jumping all over the place, which wasn't all that odd in comparison. Still, Iruka couldn't seem to guess at what the boy was thinking until they reached the large double doors leading into the temporary Hokage's office. He silently berated himself for not realizing why Naruto was acting so strangely.

"It's weird, isn't it?" Iruka commented. "Knowing that you're graduating from this place, I mean." For once Naruto didn't answer right away, but Iruka was more than willing to give him a few moments to reminisce.

"I guess so," he said with a small smile. "A lot of cool stuff happened here, I guess I'm going to miss it. A little bit." He added the last part hastily.

"You could always come and visit!" Iruka said cheerfully. "Maybe when you become a chunin you could even help me teach!" Naruto looked up at him in surprise, a curious look on his face that Iruka wasn't quite expecting. Before he could put a finger on what it was, it was gone and replaced by a wide grin.

"Maybe, but I don't think I'll have a whole lot of time for that," Naruto said sheepishly, placing both hands behind his head. "Because I'll be too busy becoming Hokage!" Iruka chuckled inwardly at the boy's spirit.

"In that case, just promise me you'll give the academy a bit more funding," Iruka commented jokingly, though the way Naruto's face lit up made it appear that he thought it was serious.

"Of course, Iruka-sensei!" he exclaimed. "I'll make the academy bigger and better than ever before!"

"Alright, just remember that," Iruka said with a grin. "Now let's go give the Hokage your paperwork." With that, Iruka pushed the door open. The room it revealed was fairly large with hardwood floors and walls. It was mostly empty except for a mess of files and file cabinets surrounding the desk that the old Hokage had taken over. Naruto recognized it as the place they'd go in order to practice their taijutsu forms during class, though now it looked more like an office.

"Ah, Naruto!" The Hokage said in a cheerful voice. "And Iruka, it's good to see the both of you!"

"Hey ojii-san!" Naruto called back with a wave of his hand, receiving a sideways glance from Iruka.

"You should be a bit more respectful to the Hokage, Naruto," he chastised, causing the old man to let loose a bark of laughter.

"Please, it's no trouble," the old man said, waving off Iruka's comment. "If someone doesn't remind me about my age every now and then, I might forget and try and do something reckless! Now come and take a seat, we have some paperwork to take care of." Both shinobi did as instructed, though Naruto was clearly more at ease around the Hokage and quickly began lounging back in his chair. While he was doing this, Iruka noticed the Hokage searching the boy over with a studious expression, as if looking over a fragile object he'd dropped. This only lasted a moment before the old man continued speaking.

"Well, let's see that picture you took," he said, suddenly sounding very jovial. Naruto handed him the photo with a hint of annoyance.

"I was gonna make it look a lot cooler," he explained. "With face paint and a cool pose and stuff, but Iruka said I couldn't do that!"

"That's good," the old man said casually, nodding his head. "I would have made you retake it." Naruto promptly fell to his face out of his chair. "As it stands, I think this is very nice picture."

"I agree, Hokage-sama," Iruka added. "See, aren't you glad I told you not to do it?" Under his breath, Iruka could hear Naruto mutter something about changing a rule and becoming Hokage.

"Anyway, this will do just fine," the old man said, before stapling the picture onto the front of a sheet of paper. "Now all you need to do is sign here and you're an official Konoha genin." Naruto stared at the paper he was handed with a look of confusion.

"Just like that?" he asked.

"Just like that," the Hokage repeated, handing him a black pen. As soon it was in his hand, Naruto performed a flurry of strokes at the bottom of the paper resulting in an unintelligible scribble that he looked very proud of. With a slight chuckle, Sarutobi grabbed the paper and promptly filed it into the "U" section of his overstuffed file cabinet. He pitied the man unfortunate enough to be tasked with moving the heavy cabinet back into the mansion when registration was complete.

"So what happens now?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Officially, this meeting ended when you handed me that paper," the Hokage stated. "Unless you have any questions, you're free to go. You'll meet at your usual classroom with your classmates for team selections tomorrow." The mention of his classmates sent a light bulb off in Naruto's head, causing the boy to shoot up in his seat.

"That girl from last night!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Will she be there?" Both Iruka and Sarutobi were caught off guard by the suddenness of the outburst, causing him to sink into his chair in embarrassment.

"I mean, that's okay for me to ask… right?" he muttered, not entirely sure what he'd done wrong.

"Y-Yes, of course," Sarutobi replied, coming to his senses first. "You just caught me off guard." The old man straightened the collar on his robes and cleared his voice before continuing. "Her name is Hinata Hyuuga, and to the best of my knowledge she will be attending the selection." He noticed Naruto sigh with relief at his answer and while his expression didn't change, the Hokage felt a sense of pride fill him. Naruto was reacting just as he'd hoped.

"I have to ask, though," the old man stated. He knew this wouldn't be necessary, but he wanted to know how the boy would respond. "Why are you curious about her?" At this, Naruto once again shrank down with embarrassment.

"Well, after last night… and all that stuff… and Mizuki, I just…" Naruto was about to continue rambling when he was cut short by the Hokage holding up his hand.

"You were worried about her, weren't you?" he asked, more as a statement than a question. The way Naruto bowed his head answered for him. "Don't be ashamed of that, Naruto. The ability to look out for others and not just yourself is one of the most important qualities for a Hokage to have."

"You don't worry about anything, though," Naruto rebutted, receiving a chuckle from the old man.

"Oh how I wish that was true," he said with a shake of his head. "I worry about more than most people give me credit for. After all, how could I fix the villages problems if I didn't worry about them?"

"I hadn't thought about that," Naruto muttered to himself.

"While there's nothing wrong with being worried, be careful not to overdo it," Sarutobi warned. "Worry too much, and you begin to coddle people. No one respects people who coddle them; worry simply becomes paranoia at that point."

"Ah! Why is it so complicated?" Naruto growled in frustration. This time, it was Iruka who responded.

"Don't trouble yourself too much," he said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're still young, some of these things you won't understand until you've matured a bit. That will come with time and experience." Naruto's expression gave away that he wasn't pleased with this explanation, but he didn't pursue the topic any further; probably thinking he would only be confused more if he did. Instead, the boy decided he'd had enough of this meeting.

"Ichiraku's is probably open by now," he said, though he didn't feel all that hungry. "I guess I'll get going."

"I've got to stay here and help the Hokage," Iruka said. "But when I get done, I'll meet up with you for dinner, my treat." The prospect of a free dinner made Naruto grin from ear to ear.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei!" he called, before starting towards the door. He was just about to reach for the handle when the Hokage interrupted.

"One more thing, Naruto," he said, his tone as serious as the boy could ever remember. Thinking he might be in trouble, he turned and looked sheepishly at the Hokage. "You're on the right track, but remember this one thing. Not all people may heal as quickly as you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sure you can figure it out on your own," the old man replied with a shrug. Naruto simply rolled his eyes and continued on his way out; wishing that someone could simply be up front with him. As soon as the door clicked shut and Naruto was out of the room, Sarutobi released a pent up breath.

'Now we just wait and see…'

XxXxX

Naruto sighed as he rolled a twig around with his foot. He'd been unsuccessful at finding anything to do after the meeting and was forced to wander around the village aimlessly for an hour or two. When nothing struck him as particularly entertaining, he simply found his way into the forest and set himself down on a fallen tree. From that position he contemplated different options. Training was the first thing that came to mind; usually he would usually jump on any opportunity to get some practice in, but today he just didn't feel like it. He also contemplated furthering the plot he had brewing for that stuck up photographer, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. At least for now.

'Is this how Shikamaru feels all the time?' he wondered, growing bored of his game with the stick, kicking it towards another tree. He doubted it; Shikamaru _loved_ to lounge around and do nothing, but he could hardly stand it. His body begged him to run around and cause some havoc, but it was impossible to think of something he actually _wanted_ to do. Dinner with Iruka was the one thing he looked forward to, and that was still a few hours away at least.

"Everything is so boring!" he exclaimed loudly, startling a few crows from a nearby tree; their caws slowly drowning away into nothing as they distanced themselves from the blond. In the silence they left behind, Naruto could faintly detect a strange noise emanating from the forest. He could just barely hear it, but if he slowed his breathing and was sitting in just the right position, he could hear a hollow knocking sound. At first, he dismissed it as unimportant and attempted to return to his thoughts, but no matter how hard he tried, the noise grabbed his attention every time he heard it. Soon enough, he found himself counting and predicting the sequence of hollow thumps; discovering that there would be eight knocks in a rather steady rhythm followed by a few seconds of silence. This sequence repeated four more times before Naruto found his insatiable curiosity beckoning him to investigate; hoping he would find something interesting when he got there.

The noises grew louder as he began walking towards the source, until it was at a point where the forest seemed to resonate with the sound of something striking wood. Naruto swore it was a familiar sound, but for the life of him couldn't put a finger on what it was.

Until a shuriken imbedded itself an inch above his head, slicing off the tip of one of his hair spikes. Naruto felt his body go rigid before turning his head slowly in the direction the shuriken came from.

"Hey, watch where you're walking, baka!" The high pitch voice of a child rang out. He was a small kid with a strange looking helmet and a long blue scarf wrapped around his neck. He wore a bright yellow shirt with an orange Konoha symbol on the front. "I'm doing important shinobi training here!"

"No, you watch where you're throwing!" Naruto shouted back, his fear dispelled at the sight of the child. "You could have killed me if you threw just a little bit lower! A shinobi is supposed to be aware of his surroundings!"

"What would you know about being a shinobi?" rebutted the child, placing his hands on his hips.

"Do you see this headband?" Naruto roared in retaliation, pointing proudly at the shining metal plate on his forehead. "I'm a genin, you little brat!" This comment took the boy by surprise, causing him to visibly flinch. Naruto basked in his brief victory over the pint sized opponent.

"So what?" the boy yelled after shaking off his shock. "It wouldn't matter if you were a Jonin! I'm the Sandaime Hokage's grandson and I'm going to be the next Hokage!"

This time it was Naruto's turn to be taken aback; he was unaware that the old man even had a son, not to mention a grandson. The child took his surprise and smirked at it, before sticking his tongue out.

"You wouldn't be able to lay a finger on me!" he teased. "I bet you're just some loser!"

"Shut up!" Naruto roared. Before the boy even knew what was happening, he had cleared the distance between the two of them and delivered a solid punch to the back of his head. The boy landed on the ground with a heavy thump and a cry of pain.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he shouted, rubbing the spot where he was hit. "Y-You big jerk!"

"I'm not the jerk," Naruto growled, showing the child his outstretched fist. "I don't care if you're just another person or the old man's grandson; anyone who doubts me will get the same! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and _don't _forget it!" He snuck a glance down at the boy, expecting to see him ready to get back up and fire off a few more arguments. Instead, he saw the boy with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open.

"N-no one h-has ever talked to me like that," he stuttered. Naruto cocked his head and stared at the boy curiously, not expecting this.

"So? It's not that big a deal," he said, hoping the boy wasn't about to cry. He hadn't dealt with many children before, at least not since he was that young himself, but seemed to recall that they used to cry far too often.

"Help me train!" the kid shouted, suddenly shooting up from the ground. The speed of his reaction caused Naruto to jump backwards, slamming his head on a low hanging branch. He winced in pain, but managed to keep himself from falling down.

"Why should I help you train?" he shouted while rubbing the spot where he hit his head. "You almost killed me and then you acted like a complete brat!"

"But you have to help me train!" the kid protested. "No one else will!"

"I won't either!" Naruto said, before turning and walking in the opposite direction. He regretted ever wanting to explore that noise.

"Please, boss!" the boy yelled, running up to Naruto and yanking on his sleeve. The blonde's first reaction was to turn around and prepare for another round of verbal jousting, until the child's words registered in his mind.

"Wait, what did you call me?" asked Naruto, wondering if something was wrong with his ears.

"Boss! I called you boss!" the boy cried in response. "If you help me train, you can be my boss forever! I swear!"

At first, Naruto didn't know how to react, stunned by the outburst. No one had ever called him anything other than brat. Being called something much more honorable; even if it was from a little kid, caused a warm feeling to well up in his gut. Sheepishly, he flashed the kid a grin while placing his hands behind his head.

"I guess if you ask like that, I can't really say no!" Naruto exclaimed, causing the boy's eyes to light up.

"Really? You'll help?" he asked in bewilderment.

"I just said I would, didn't I?" Naruto replied.

"What should we work on first, boss?" asked the kid, almost bouncing with excitement. Naruto brought a hand up to his chin and adopted a look of deep thought. He supposed he could teach the boy how to do the sexy jutsu… Then again, something _that_ powerful shouldn't fall into the wrong hands.

At that moment, Naruto's thoughts just so happened to wander to the old man photographer, causing a devilish grin to spread across his face.

"How would you feel about having some covert ops training?" the orange clad shinobi asked in a sinister tone. The fire in his new minion's eyes said it all for him.

XxXxX

Haro Shinakio was once a genin from Iwa, on his way to making chunin and considered to be fairly talented by all in his age group. Dozens of successful missions lay under his belt, and he had even been given some recognition from the Tsuchikage for his work. He was viewed by his peers as a shinobi who would bring great honor and skill to the village in the near future.

No one would have ever suspected him of going rogue.

Sure, Iwa was a great place with lots of opportunity, but a genin didn't get to participate in the Chunin exams because they were stupid, though it was a mistake on that village's part to underestimate exactly how smart he was. Haro knew how Iwa treated their shinobi, as simple tools to be thrown around and disposed of as they will. If that was the life his genin classmates were satisfied with, far be it for him to take them away from it all, but he had bigger plans.

After leaving Iwa and being labeled a missing-nin, Haro found work to survive in the undergrounds of society, taking various odd jobs and some rather sinister missions in order to make a small living. It didn't matter that he was only listed as D-rank in the bingo books, he was living a good life; why would he want an A or S-rank bounty over his head everywhere he went?

This job was a bit against his normal operations, more risky if nothing else. His employers were a couple of goons, no doubt working for some higher up missing-nin. They had told him of a child in Konoha that was of interest to their superior; he was still a student training to become a genin, but rumor had it he was always escaping from his lecherous sensei. He didn't ask how they had gotten such information out of Konoha, but was more than willing to take the mission. It was out of the scope of his usual targets, but he had been improving over the past two years. How different could abducting a child near the outskirts of Konoha be from any other village? Plus, the pay was rather substantial, so he had no objections to pushing himself a bit.

When he reached Konoha, there was no reason to overcomplicate things. No missing-nin in their right mind would enter the village through the front door, so Haro figured that was the perfect place to start. Donning civilian clothes, the shinobi simply claimed to the guards that his mother had gotten ahead of him and that he didn't want to lose her in the crowd. The two idiots waved him in without doing any sort of scan or test; it was all he could do not to burst into laughter.

After spending some time among Konoha's shops; just to be sure any potential ANBU trailers didn't find his actions suspicious, he began his search for the target.

Haru found the boy and his sensei by using a picture taken from whatever informant his clients had. The location in the photo was as clear as day; the roof on the Hokage's mansion wasn't exactly an inconspicuous place to do some training. Sure enough, his target was there with a black clad man, busy practicing his hand seals.

The information his clients left said that his sensei was a skilled Jonin instructor, definitely an enemy no genin level missing-nin wanted to deal with. However, true to his client's intel, the yellow clad brat escaped from his sensei less than an hour into the training. From there it was as simple as following the brat into the forest.

This brought him to the present, waiting high up in the foliage of Konoha's trees and staring down at his target. He would have attacked then and there if not for that orange clad idiot who stumbled onto the spot before getting into an argument with his target. He learned that the boy was a genin from their exchange, but more importantly that his target was the Hokage's grandson.

On any other day, Haro would have ended his involvement then and there; he did _not_ need to have the kidnap of the Hokage's grandson on his head. However, some part of him could not deny the opportunity. If anyone had noticed him stalking a relative to "The Professor" he would have been caught by now, which meant that the boy was either unguarded or his guards were completely incompetent. Given the target's status, he suspected the former. With no guards around, he could take the Hokage's grandson without ever being seen. His successful capture of this target would keep all kinds of jobs coming his way, while his face would have never been associated with the capture within Konoha. Sure, they might track him down through the rumor mill after he claimed responsibility for the deed, but he had a feeling that any number of other missing-nin will claim that they captured the Hokage's grandson with the thought of increased business. There would be one hundred "kidnappers" within the week, which would allow a D-rank shinobi to fly smoothly under the radar.

All he had to do was make sure there were no witnesses. While he could kill the orange clad idiot, he didn't know anything about his abilities. He was sure he could take down a genin if necessary, but much smaller risks had gotten much greater shinobi killed. He would bide his time, if the orange idiot didn't leave, he would just have to take him out.

* * *

><p>And that's the end, hope you guys like it more than I do, feels a little forced in my opinion.<p>

As before, try and keep reviews somewhat constructive, I don't really learn anything from "Cool story, bro"

Also, look out for more chapters.


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